Of Shadow and Flame
by Eternity can wait
Summary: After a nightmare convices Raven to leave the Titans, they must deal with her sudden departure. Now that she's on her own, Raven has to adjust to the relativly normal life she's resigned to following. PG 13 for content in later chapters.(final chapter up)
1. Split

Of Shadow and Flame

Chapter 1: Split

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. I don't even have a share in Warner Brother's or DC Comic's stock, so don't sue me if something shows up here that unintentionally matches the comics, or somebody else's ideas. Also, the whole real scenario here is mine, as well as all the new characters I bring in.

This fic is, naturally, about Raven. It won't have much of the other Titans in it, at least not in the first chapter, but they will be in here. Just read the first chapter, and if you don't like it, don't throw it in my face. Hold on until after chapter two, then flame it if you want. This _is_ only my first fic, for Pete's sake!

Oh yeah, I always appreciate genuine criticism, so feel free to review!

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Rain came down in sheets as Beast Boy forced himself into a crouch. His arm was broken, but at least he was still alive. He looked up, teeth gritted, at the woman walking towards him.

She leaned over and placed a clawed finger under his chin.

"No...please, don't...!" he said, voice wavering. The flames lapped around them. Starfire and Robin were burning within those flames, and Cyborg's nearly indestructible body was in pieces behind her.

"You know, Beast Boy, I always liked you best," she said with a wide smirk. "If you weren't so pitiful, I'd keep you as a pet!"

Tears ran down Beast Boy's face and he tried to stand up. A meaningless effort. Raven gripped his entire body with her powers and laughed. She looked at her onetime friend through four red eyes, and with a sickening crack...

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"NO!" Raven screamed, sitting bolt upright, covered in sweat.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway and Robin jerked the door open.

"What happened?" he asked, locking his eyes on Raven. Her hair had fallen around her face, hiding it.

"Just a dream. I'm fine," Raven said in her monotone. Robin trusted her not to lie outright, but it certainly wasn't unlike her to only tell part of the story.

"What's going on?" Cyborg asked as he and Beast Boy arrived in the doorway. Starfire whisked into view behind them a moment later.

"Just a nightmare," Robin said, shifting to block the doorway. Raven's hands were gripping her shoulders so hard her knuckles were white. Robin thought he glimpsed tears, but he decided it was best to leave her alone. He closed the issue with Raven's door, at least for tonight.

Raven shifted and looked at the ceiling, letting her hands slip down to her lap. Two streaks glistened on her cheeks as she tried to compose herself and review everything that had happened.

She'd noticed the sudden increase in her powers about a week ago, but had simply taken it in stride. She couldn't afford to use much of this new power because she simply lacked the control; she might kill anyone she attacked with anything more than she was used to handling.

From there it only got worse. The power she tried to suppress kept finding ways out. The sink and view screens had taken most of the damage, which Raven had heartily denied having any part of, but Raven knew eventually the damage would spread. She'd tried intensifying and lengthening her meditation, but she simply couldn't increase her skill at the same rate her powers were growing.

Raven wiped away the tears and levitated out of bed. She was already putting on her cloak when she realized that she'd levitating without speaking the chant. Raven stared at her body hanging in the air, hanging there without anything more than a mental command.

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos," Raven said, worried, and her powers lowered her to the ground.

Raven sighed and turned to the little mirror sitting on her side table. It looked perfectly normal. So it hadn't been an emotion, but a simple reflex. Raven shivered at the thought. With that kind of reflex, she might blow someone's head off for patting her on the shoulder.

"I can't do this," Raven said, shaking her head. She reached up, deliberately with her own hands, and took one of the largest books in her collection off the shelf. It was written in a language only a choice few knew how to read. Raven herself only understood about two thirds of the characters in the old language.

She flipped it open and searched through what served as an index. For this she needed her powers, because this particular book would only show you what you wanted if you were capable of removing your own soul and placing it within the book as a guide. In short, only someone with powers similar to Raven's could see anything but blank pages in the book.

She found what she wanted and flipped the book open completely. It moved on its own to the section titled "Division."

Raven considered the spell for a few moments. It would certainly keep her from doing anything dangerous if she cast it correctly, but it would be a burden on her friends. Especially if they ever wanted Raven's help again.

Resigned to her fate, Raven set the book down and started to chant. The words weren't really in the human vocal range, so Raven had to modify the sound of her voice with her powers. The pure voice that came out was nothing like Raven's usual monotone; it sounded like something an eternal soul would speak with. Which, of course, was the point.

Raven easily divided the essence within her. She left only the healing powers to herself, and split the others apart so they couldn't become active ever again. By the time she was finished, Raven was having trouble breathing. Her soul could no longer control her words, and she stumbled through the remaining part of the chant clumsily.

Then it was done; four black masses of power floated in front of her, runes glowing all across their surface. They were writhing in pain, trying to return to Raven's body, but she couldn't allow that.

"Kanju," Raven said, sadly, and the spell was completed. The masses swept away, through the walls without a mark, and fled to their new hosts.

"To each of my friends, a piece of myself," Raven said, leaning on the chair. Her body felt so vulnerable without her energy flowing through it, but at the same time she felt that an immense weight had been lifted from her. She could let her emotions out now, and nothing would explode. She could live a normal life, except for the memories she could never leave behind.

Raven picked up the mirror and looked at her reflection. Her skin was already loosing its inhuman pallor and her eyes were much closer to blue than purple. Raven tossed back her hood and looked at her hair, which had also lost its slight purple tint.

Raven smiled at her reflection and set down the mirror, looking around the dark room. She decided there really wasn't anything she particularly wanted to take with her. The books of magic, history, myth and poetry were no longer of much consequence to her. The mirror was pointless with no threat from her emotions. She would try to live a normal life now, and such things as alien and demon artifacts would only get in the way.

Raven walked to the closet and flung it open. She only had a few sets of clothes, all in blue. She decided that her superhero costume wouldn't be necessary, and should be left behind. Raven stopped as she reached for the dress, a slight pang of grief wrenching through her.

"I really should go...before I'm tempted to cast the counter spell," Raven said sadly. "It's for the best, after all. They don't need me, not with my old power to protect them."

Raven snatched the dress and a sweater out of the closet and shut it quickly. She didn't have any other clothes except some underwear and a pair of jeans, which she collected on her way across the room. She stopped by her desk and looked at the spellbook. The counter chant leapt out at her, and, shuddering, Raven reached out and closed the book with a thud.

Raven changed into the jeans and sweater quickly and checked through her dresser for anything she might have missed.

Raven took her cloak and tied her clothes in it, along with the stack of money she'd borrowed from the Titan's safe earilier. It wouldn't be missed from the thousands the Titans spent every week on repairs.

Raven looped her cloak over her shoulder and walked to the door. She paused and looked back at the room. It didn't look nearly as friendly as it had always felt to her. Raven shivered, at her room, and at what her powers had made her. How much had really been her, and how much was merely a manipulation done by her powers? The room looked like the kind of place a demon sorceress would live in.

Raven frowned at that thought. It certainly fit her, didn't it?

She closed the door quietly and padded down the hallway. Knowing Robin, he wouldn't go back to sleep. He'd stay up, thinking about how to speak to Raven about her dream while he worked with his Slade obsession. She knew she'd have to be careful or he'd hear her.

Raven slipped past his room and down the stairs as quickly as she could, but she still had to get past Starfire's room. She could hear the Tamaranion girl pacing. Raven shook her head at her friend's concern. They were probably all this worried, each showing concern in their own way.

Raven slipped past and darted around a corner as Starfire's door slid open.

"Hello? Someone is there?" Starfire's voice rang out. Raven slipped down the hallway away from her, cursing inwardly for forgetting the girls excellent hearing. Starfire's voice faded off in the opposite direction, still calling. But now she was heading upstairs.

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Author's note: I've based everything so far off the television series and my own original suppositions about how Raven might turn out. As an anime freak, I assumed that she had the capacity to transform if she ever turned really evil. If anyone's wondering, no, I'm not pairing Cyborg or Beast Boy with anyone, especially not Raven. Robin and Starfire are a couple at this point, and Slade is still missing after Aftershock. Beast Boy will be paired with Terra, if anyone, but that's pretty much impossible. Also, if you have a strong opinion about Raven's personality, consider it tweaked for this fic; I'm deliberately having her act weird. Feel free to interoperate the chapter titles as you please, but know that most of them are multi layered.

And, so you don't think I suck outright, I have a problem with starting stories! The day I start a story well is the day I get published!

**Character talk**

**Man in brown cloak: **"Nice Job with the intro, but..."

**Me: **"Yeah, what?"

**Man in brown cloak: **"Well...it just feels kind of rushed, and you know, there's not much dialogue."

**Me: **"Shut up, you good for nothing...they'll be plenty of dialogue after Raven gets out of the Tower!"

**Man in brown cloak: **"Oh."

**Me: **"Oh? That's all you've got to say? Why'd I write you in here, anyway?"

**Man in brown cloak: **"I'm not the writer. I'm just a character."

**Me: **"I'll say!"

**Man in brown cloak: **"Anyways, next episode: The mysterious shop! Don't miss it!" (Smiles and gives you a thumbs up)

**Me: **"Hey! This is a Fanfic, not an anime!"

**Man in brown cloak: **"Speak for yourself, you aren't in it!"


	2. Live

Of Shadow and Flame

Chapter 2: Live

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. I don't even have a share in Warner Brother's or DC Comic's stock, so don't sue me if something shows up here that unintentionally matches the comics, or somebody else's ideas. Also, the whole real scenario here is mine, as well as all the new characters I bring in.

This chapter is probably the most important, so it's very long. Also, read the Character Talk at the end for a few laughs and some hints about the story. Hey, you might even want to go back and read the one from the last chapter! Constructive Criticism still appreciated!

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Raven watched the T-car roar past. Her friends hadn't made it easy to get out of the Tower, especially with Cyborg setting the security system to full alert. It wouldn't have even been possible if it weren't for the tunnel Cyborg had recently built for his car. The video system wasn't fully operational yet, so Raven had managed to get out that way, but Robin, if not all of the Titans, would know which way she'd gone. They'd check the tape and see Raven leaving, but by then, hopefully, she'd have already found her way out of the city. Ironically, Raven had been against building the tunnel.

Raven slipped out of the shadows next to the tunnel entrance and calmly walked down the street. She would take a train out of the city and be in Metropolis by morning, and from there she would catch a bus to someplace less conspicuous. Someplace with fewer super villains, at least.

Raven looked in the shop windows as she walked, not really seeing them. She was dimly aware of it when she walked past an electronics store with TV's blazing in the window. A report cut in on the dog food commercial suddenly. "This just in, the Teen Titans have issued a quarantine on Jump City! All civilians are to keep an eye out for Raven, who is missing from the tower for unknown reasons..." The message repeated as Raven stared at the dull looking man displayed on every TV.

"Since when can they quarantine the city?" Raven whispered as a picture of herself was displayed on the TVs, as the voice continued to urge all viewers to keep an eye out for Raven. Raven wasn't entirely surprised at the Titan's concern. It was touching, really, but sealing off the entire city? Certainly it was too much. Not to mention it put a serious kink in her plans.

Raven darted into the closest alleyway and pressed her body against the wall. People were all over the street, even this late at night. Not many of them would have seen the report, but there was no sense taking chances.

Raven slipped down the alleyway, pulling up the hood on her sweater as she went. It was cold enough to justify the hood, and hopefully she wouldn't draw attention if she pretended to be with someone in the crowd.

Raven rejoined the crowd, shifting her bundle in what she hoped was a casual manner. She'd need a place to wait out the Titans, and the slums seemed like the best choice...if nobody recognized her.

Raven stepped in beside a young man and smiled at him. He turned bright red and swallowed. He started giving Raven nervous little glances the further they went, and he started sweating. Raven could have laughed at his response. She wasn't that pretty, after all.

Raven still felt a little guilty when she turned down and side alley and left the man standing there with a heartbroken look on his face.

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Raven stared at the poster, seeing it clearly for the first time. The sun was finally coming up, and people were starting to go about their usual jobs.

Raven was sitting with her back to an alley wall, looking at a particularly new poster on the opposite wall, considering what she'd need to do to get out of town. The streets, walls, and pretty much everything else was in a state of severe disrepair from near constant use, and the remarkably thick layer of grime didn't make the place any more appealing. The population here were mostly foreign immigrants who weren't familiar with English or the Titans, so, in short, it was the best place Raven could hide.

Well, at least that part was clear. The city wouldn't allow the quarantine to go on indefinitely, so Raven would just have to wait until her friends were forced to let it go. It was the time in between that was a problem.

The poster was a job offer for a counter job in a mystical oddities shop. Pretty run of the mill, basic looking job, but just the sort of temporary occupation Raven could be reasonably comfortable with. She memorized the address and stood up to take her bearings. She found the street sign, which was nearly illegible thanks to the bullet holes, and started off, hands thrust into her sweater pockets. The instant she turned away, the poster disintegrated.

The slums weren't just a place for poor immigrants. The street sign was proof enough that some criminal elements were present, and judging from the smashed windows, bullet holes, and poorly patched walls, Raven guessed that there were at least two gangs in the area. The police force almost never bothered with the slums unless they had direct orders to track someone down, so they probably hadn't contributed to the damage at all.

She checked the barely legible house addresses as she made her way down the street. The shop she was looking for was, theoretically, only another block down the road.

She passed a heavily damaged, but remarkably clean, mini-mart on her way down the street. Aside from this, the streets were lined with apartment complexes, a small bank that looked like it got robbed every day, and, supposedly, a mystical oddities shop. Raven Seriously doubted that last one; why would there be a magic shop here? It wasn't like gangsters would buy talismans, after all.

And there it was, right on the corner, sticking out like a sore thumb.

The shop was probably the newest thing on the entire street. It couldn't possibly have been there more than a few days, because its paint was still bright and the shop windows were still clean enough to see through. A "Help Wanted" sign was hanging in the window right below the shop's main sign, which was a sword, scroll, and ring painted in flamboyant greens, gold's and reds with the words Magical Oddities written in gold beneath the pictures.

Raven pushed the door to the shop open with a sigh. Unless the shop got a layer of grime to match the others overnight, it wouldn't do. The Mini-mart looked like a half decent choice, though.

"Just a moment!" someone said from behind the counter. Objects clattered to the ground, someone grunted, and a couple of rolled parchments flew through the air before a startlingly handsome young man popped his head up from behind the counter. "Feel free to look around, I'll be with you as soon as I get this blasted cabinet to stop opening!"

Raven stared in amazement for a moment as the man renewed his clatterings and gruntings, struggling mightily with something behind the counter. It sounded like he was losing. Raven shook her head in amazement, and looked at the wall behind the man.

The wall behind the counter was covered in shelves, which were in turn filled with empty flasks of every possible size and shape. There were plain clear flasks, blue ones, red ones, green ones and black ones. Some looked like they were made of transparent gold, others were shaped like dragons or other mythical creatures. One looked like a coiled snake with a sword in its mouth as a stopper, and another like a human heart with legs. Raven stared at the one made to look like an obsidian angel is mild surprise for a moment, then she shifted to look at the back wall.

The far wall was covered with odd jewelry, ranging from crowns, to earrings, to anklets and rings. They were all unique, ranging from simple golden bands with engraved symbols to long silvery necklaces with blue stones set into them to an elaborate crown with a pair of rubies fashioned to look like a set of eyes. They even seemed to follow Raven as she shifted from foot to foot. It was remarkably disturbing; She could of sword the part of the mask that looked like a mask was smiling at her. Raven abruptly shifted to the final wall.

The wall directly to Raven's right was covered with a variety of scrolls, books, weapons, armor, crystals, and even a few objects Raven couldn't make head or tail of. The Swords were all set on their own little stands carefully and the armor was hanging from the bottom of the shelves. There was an entire shelf covered with carefully stacked and labeled flattened seal parchments. Raven noticed, in some dismay, that she had absolutely no idea what these scrolls said. They might as well have been real, the writing was so strange. On the top shelf, books were stacked in a haphazard way to one side so the crystals could shine in the best places on the shelf. The large gemstones were remarkably beautiful, but Raven couldn't approve of shoving around books to show off some rocks. At the very back of the shop, nearly hidden behind some bizarre and totally foreign objects, was a thin door. It was covered with thousands of runes of a variety of sizes from the top of the door to the bottom, where a strange, bluish metal made up an edge of the door.

"See anything you want?" Raven jumped and turned to look at the man. He was slightly over six feet tall, though at first Raven thought he was taller. He was dressed in a loose, gray, long-sleeved shirt that left his neck bare and covered his arms down to his fingers. He wore a pair of baggy black pants with a piece of dark gray cloth wrapped around his waist to hold them in place, which served to hold a pen as well. He had startling, long silver hair which he'd loosely tied back, but his face was what set him apart from any man Raven had ever seen before. He was beautiful. His face was smooth, calm, handsome, not entirely masculine, and his deep green eyes complimented his hair nicely. Raven's eyes widened when she realized he didn't have any pupils.

"Ah, I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" The man asked, smile fading slightly.

"Oh, no, it's just...your eyes look..." Raven blushed bright red at her mistake.

"Oh, is that all! They're just contacts," He answered, relieved. "So, anything else you want, or were you just concerned?"

"I, uh, saw your ad and..." Raven stuttered. Her mind was racing, and coming up utterly, utterly blank. She couldn't even think strait with those eyes fixed on her.

"Great! I pay fifteen dollars an hour. I'd expect you to work a six hour shift every day but Sunday, unless you want to work extra. You can start whenever you like," He said, smiling. Raven stared at his strange eyes, not so sure he was wearing contacts. Then again, the color did look pretty fake.

He waited patiently for an answer, but after a few moments his smile faded and he folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"By the way, my name's Falchion. What's yours?" He asked, sitting back on the stool behind the counter, smiling again. Funny, she must have missed that when she looked the first time.

"I'm..." Raven snapped back to herself, pulling her eyes away from his, "...Fiona."

"Well, Fiona, do you want the job?" Falchion asked, diverting his attention to one of the larger flasks on the wall behind him.

"Sure...I'll just need to get settled in...somewhere," Raven said, backing up. Falchion glanced in her direction, and those strange green eyes bore into her again.

"Can I expect you about eight tomorrow morning?" Falchion asked sweetly, smiling again. Raven nodded shakily.

"I'll show you what to do tomorrow, then," Falchion said, picking up the bottle and turning away from Raven. "Goodbye, Fiona."

Raven mumbled something unintelligible, that might have been a farewell, and bolted out the door.

She ran into the alleyway next to the shop and slumped against the wall.

"What's wrong with me?" Raven said, putting a hand on her face. "I completely blew it...and where in the world did I get Fiona from?"

Raven stayed there for a moment, thinking about the annoying situation she'd just gotten herself into. She should go back and say she couldn't take the job, but then she'd have to confront those eyes again...well, she'd have to tell him tomorrow, anyways. And she _would _need a place to live until the Quarantine was over and she could leave, so she might as well take care of that first.

Raven shoved off the wall and headed for the apartment complex with the fewest bullet holes.

Falchion watched her go from the window as he hung up a few ancient, dark tapestries. His smile slipped away, his eyes narrowing, and a slight smirk touched his lips, but only for the briefest of moments.

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The walls were flaking, the windows were caked with dust, or worse, and the room was pathetically small. Raven looked at the paint peeling off the wall and sighed. Well, at least it was cheap.

The pitiful apartment Raven had rented for the minimal price of one hundred dollars, counting services like laundry and using the single bathroom in the entire building, was roughly ten feet long and six feet wide. There was a single window at the far end, a small sink, which looked more likely to spew sewage than water, a stove with no signs of use, and a bed. The rafters were exposed on the six foot ceiling, and rather than carpet, the floor was just painted concrete. Raven shook her head and looked at the metal pole sticking out of the wall next to the sink. The previous patron had done her a favor and left a couple of coat hangers on the pole, or else Raven wouldn't have guessed it would serve as her closet.

"This is going to take a lot of work," Raven said sullenly as she walked across the room and put a hand on the bed. Dust went everywhere.

Raven grabbed the window and forced it open, choking on the dust. It tasted like the room hadn't been used for years, but in fact it had only been built a year or so ago.

Raven looked around at the yellowish-tan wall and the brown ceiling, down at the grey bed, and realized she'd have to use even more of her money to fix it up. Raven sighed. She only had about another two hundred dollars to spend after rent.

Falchion's offer was starting to sound a lot better after Raven visited the Mini Mart. The place was clean enough, but the most they could pay was one dollar an hour. And besides, the Help Wanted sign was missing from Falchion's window. If she missed this opportunity, all the money would be gone in a few weeks and even her disgusting apartment wouldn't be there for her. Though, it wouldn't be nearly so bad once Raven was finished with it.

Spray paint was all the Mini mart carried, but Raven found a good blue black color. After an hour or so of scraping, the poor quality tan paint was gone and the remarkably smooth construction board underneath was ready for some paint. Raven wasn't stupid, if a bit unorthodox. She opened the window, sprayed with one hand and held her sweater over her mouth with the other. Every few minutes Raven had to flee from the paint fumes and wait for them to disperse before continuing, but after about another hour and a half, the walls and ceiling were hidden behind a coat of paint thick enough to completely smooth out the irregular spots on the wall.

Tossing out the third can, Raven surveyed the apartment. It almost looked like someone could live here, now. Now it was time to try that filthy sink.

Raven turned on the water, and, not surprisingly, nothing came out. Raven checked under the sink and found a place for her apartment key and unlocked it. Now the water came out, and not dirty at all. It was supposed to be drinkable, but Raven wasn't quite ready to test that one.

After a few moments the gallon sized sink was full and Raven added a healthy supply of soap before picking up the scrub brush she'd bought. The sink came clean remarkably quickly and the floor was just as easy. It only took her about fifteen minutes with such a small room, and she was glad of the soap smell overwriting the residual paint fumes.

Raven looked at the bed dismally. It looked like a pale brown bed, but Raven knew better. It was actually a mass of dust and infectious diseases waiting for its next victim. Raven ripped the covers and sheets off and picked up the small box spring bed. She wouldn't beat it in here, not after all that scrubbing.

Raven put the covers and sheets into the washing machine and picked up a piece of spare lumber, that looked like it might have been a chair leg, and took to the box frame. Each blow let out cloud after cloud of dust, and by the time Raven's sheets were ready for the drier, she was half-dead from dust and the box frame was almost white.

The bed looked usable now, and with a few quick wipes the inside of the window was clean. Raven looked around at the almost totally unrecognizable room and smiled. It was clean. She was filthy. Raven took out the dress and some under wear and headed for the bathroom. It was empty, and, according to the landlord, it was first come first serve. Raven made sure the door was locked while she bathed.

Raven washed her jeans and sweater after her shower and headed up to her room to eat. She'd bought a small pan and some canned food at the store, and without her powers, so much work had made her hungry. Normally she wouldn't need food on a regular basis, but she was nearly human now, and eating was something humans had to do. It was quite an annoyance.

Raven flopped down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Then the problem of getting up by eight occurred to her, and she sat up. Another trip to the Mini-mart later, and Raven had only another hundred dollars left.

"Well, so much for my grand plans," Raven mumbled as she stared at the little alarm clock that cost so much money. She was asleep almost before her eyes closed.

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Raven jolted awake as the alarm blared, and for a moment she thought she was back in the Tower. Then it all came back, along with an odd pain in her stomach; it took a moment for Raven to realize the pain was hunger. Raven leapt out of the bed, pulled on her sweater and her shoes and ate the scanty remnants of last nights dinner with distaste. She locked the door on her way out and set off for the shop, and the job it looked like she was stuck with.

A large golden bell hanging from the top of the door clanged cheerily when Raven pushed open the door. Raven looked at the shop in surprise; The windows had been mostly blocked off with several large, incredibly intricate tapestries and the previously empty bottles behind the counter were now all filled with potions that ranged from a total absence of color to the most spectacular of hues. Falchion, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello?" Raven called, checking behind the counter. She sighed and leaned against the counter in annoyance. If she'd known he'd be late, she wouldn't have gotten up so early.

The door in the back opened without a sound, and Falchion turned an inquisitive eye toward the girl leaning on his counter. Raven didn't even notice he was there.

"I'm sorry, was eight a little early?" Falchion said sincerely as he made his way around the counter. "You still seem to be asleep."

Raven jumped and pushed away from the counter, turning to face him. He smiled and sat down on the stool as he reached under the counter and pulled out a laptop computer.

"Well, if you're ready, I'll get everything set. In the meantime, would you like something to drink?" Falchion asked as the laptop blazed to life.

"Sure, if it isn't any trouble," Raven said, glancing about. There didn't look to be anything to drink except whatever was inside the bottles.

Falchion laughed and filled a cup from a Hot Water bottle that he apparently kept under the counter.

"I hope you don't mind tea, it's all I keep around to drink besides water," Falchion said as he handed Raven the cup.

"I used to live off the stuff!" Raven said happily. She took a small sip of the tea and froze, confusion clouding her brow.

"You, uh, do not approve of the taste?" Falchion said, smiling nervously. He closed his eyes and half- whimpered, half-laughed anxiously.

"No, it's just...this is really good," Raven said with a wide grin, laughing once. She took several long sips, and Falchion sagged in relief. He opened a program on the computer and cracked his knuckles.

"Right, let's get you signed in. First off, I'll need your full name," Falchion said as he set his hands on the keyboard and smiled at Raven. Raven almost choked.

Of course he'd want her full name! And she'd had all that time while she was scrubbing to think of one, too!

"Eh, Fiona...," Raven said hurriedly casting an eye towards the obsidian angel bottle, now filled with an eerie red fluid. "Angel."

"Home address, phone number, Social security number, and any insurance you have," Falchion said, throwing a bored look at Raven.

"Maybe this would be easier if I did it myself," Raven said, setting down her tea. Falchion raised an eye brow and spun the laptop around to face Raven. Raven typed in her apartment address, phone number, just in case she decided to get one, and a fake social security number. It looked real enough, and chances were that he wouldn't check it, seeing as how they were living in the slums.

"Well, now that that's settled," Falchion said as he turned the computer back and filled in some more information, saved it, and turned off the machine. "I think it's time I tell you just what to do."

Falchion hopped off the stool, snatched a pad and pen from underneath the counter and threw them to Raven. She managed to catch them after they hit her in the midriff.

"Now, before we start, I've got two very simple rules. First, under no circumstances are you to go through that door," Falchion said coolly, pointing at the door as he walked around the counter. "Second, don't touch anything unless I say it's alright. Only about half the stuff in here if for sale right now, and some of it, the swords, for example, is quite dangerous."

Raven nodded quickly.

"Well, then here's what's for sale. The potions, once they're labeled, these six swords, all the armor, all the rings, and the first row of necklaces. The first six crystals and all of the scrolls are for sale, and the charm stones will also have a price tag later," Falchion said, pointing at the various objects as he and Raven, who was busily taking notes, went in a slow circle around the room. By the time Raven got back to the counter, it was already apparent that Falchion was going to do all of the preparations and Raven was just going to sell the stuff. It was, quite nearly, an insult to her magical expertise, but then again, he didn't know that.

"Is that all?" Raven asked sarcastically. Falchion paused, raised a finger, lowered it, raised it again, and shook his head no.

"I might be gone for a while from time to time, but not more than a week, I promise. In the meantime, you'll have to run the shop on your own, so there's a spare set of keys under the counter for you," Falchion said as he pushed himself up on the counter and sat cross-legged facing Raven.

"How can I contact you if something happens?" Raven asked, looking up from her pad. Falchion rubbed his chin a few times and shrugged.

"Beats me! I don't carry a cell phone when I go out, but if I happen to head someplace where there's a phone, I'll tell you," Falchion said as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, lacing his fingers, resting his chin on his fingers, and smiling broadly. Raven felt her face go a little red and reflexively pulled her hood up.

"Got it. Where do I put money after a sale? You don't seem to have a cash register," Raven asked, gesturing to the vacant spot on the countertop.

"Oh, that. There's a safe back there and a small money box with a credit card slider built into it," Falchion answered, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "There's also more pads and a phone for taking specific orders."

"I'm ready to start whenever you want," Raven said, tucking the pen and pad into her front pocket.

"Tch, are you joking? This shop opens tomorrow, at the earliest! Although...," Falchion said, leaning back and setting his head to a side. "I could use some help finishing the preparations."

Raven shrugged. It wasn't like she had anything better to do.

Falchion hopped off the counter and pulled a large rolled sheet of labels out of the arm of his shirt and unrolled it with a grin.

"You can label the potions. The names are descriptive, so it shouldn't take too long for you to finish," Falchion said, holding out the sheet to Raven. "There's a chart under the counter that tells you what they do, if you're interested."

"I was wondering what a few of them were, actually," Raven said, taking the sheet. Falchion smiled and walked to the back room door in a swirl of silver hair. He had forgotten to tie it back, apparently.

Falchion reappeared a few moments later with a stack of books, each of which looked several hundred years old and at least a couple thousand pages thick. Raven made a mental note to read those later.

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The labeling kept Raven occupied until noon That day, at which point Falchion told her she should go get some lunch. When Raven came back, the shop was empty. A note sitting on top of her labels said that she was to handle the shop and finish the labeling until he was back.

Raven stared at the letter in disbelief. He'd warned her, of course, but it certainly wasn't normal to leave a new employee alone with one's business on their first day, especially if they hadn't done anything particularly trustworthy yet. Raven shook her head and picked up the label sheet.

Falchion didn't come back for three days. Raven spent the first two days reading the largest of Falchion's books, _Historical Poems of the Golden Era, _and doing just what it asked her to: writing some poems about her past. She was just starting a poem about her life with the Titans when the door bell clanged.

Raven looked up at the young boy in mild annoyance. He was very small, very thin, and terrified. Raven sighed and closed the book. He was probably here on some kind of ridiculous dare.

"Can I help you with something?" Raven asked as sweetly as she could. She had no idea how intimidating she looked with the enormous book in front of her and the rows of bottles, many of which did look like they contained pickled remains.

"I I'm supposed to give you this..." the boy said shakily, holding up a grubby piece of paper and edging towards the counter.

Raven reached forward and gently took the note, at which the boy dashed out the door as quickly as he could. Raven shook her head and looked at the note.

"We'll be by tomorrow to collect our order. Have it ready," the note read. Raven turned it over and groaned. Falchion hadn't mentioned anything like this! Raven was positive there was nothing about it in the computer, and she didn't have the combination to the safe, and the backroom was of limits. Raven leaned back on the stool and decided there was nothing she could do without more information.

Her stomach chose that moment to complain. Raven strongly disliked hunger; it was starting to drive her nuts, having to eat instead of choosing to. She hopped off he stool, pulled up her hood, and strolled out of the shop.

She didn't even notice the figure that slid out of the shadows behind her and followed her into the alley way that served as a short cut to her apartment.

"Well, well, well, lookee what we've got here!" A badly disguised voice said. Raven looked up and spotted the four or five men standing roughly twenty feet in front of her. They all chuckled at their leader's comment.

"It's a cute little girly, girl! What d'ya say boys, she's cute, ain't she?" The leader continued, walking forward. He was, to Raven's mild annoyance, African American. She considered any criminal with skin remotely similar to Cyborg's an insult to her friend. The rest of his gang, who looked to mostly be Asian and White, chuckled in agreement with their leader's comment.

Raven got ready to run and noticed the two Hispanic men walking up behind her, both with similar grins to the men in front of her.

Raven narrowed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and got ready for a struggle. She didn't have a chance without her powers, but still, it wouldn't be too easy for them. Raven turned and glared at the leader.

But he wasn't looking at Raven anymore.

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Author's note: So, how was that? I know the thing I keep calling a sweater probably has another name, but I don't know what it is, so deal with it. Sorry it took so long to update, but someone keeps nagging me about the PSAT. I think I'm starting to get into my familiar writing spot with this fic, though; next chapter is still setting up, so don't blame me for a lack of action. There will be plenty of fighting from chapter 4 onward. I've already written the best fight scene already...I just wish it was animated!  
  
By the way, is the font too small?

Character Talk

**Me: **Well, that

**Raven: **What are you doing to my mind?

**Falchion: **What are you doing to my mystique?

**Me: **Well, you can feel emotions, Falchion's a handsome guy...and Falchion, you're mystique is all but gone by the end of chapter four, so quite moaning.

**Raven: **Chapter? What, you mean this is some kind of book to you?

**Falchion: **Not a book, he said it was a fanfic, which basically means he doesn't have the guts to make his own stuff.

**Raven: **Oh, so you mean he's a loser?

**Me: **I don't believe what I'm hearing! I created you, and _you're_ a 1950's remake!

**Raven: **Huh, I have no connection to that ridiculous comic book! I'm nothing like that bimbo!

**Falchion: **Well, you _are _running around in a skin tight costume with bare legs...

**Raven:** Whose side are you on?

**Me: **His own side, of course!

**Raven: **And how do you know that?

**Me: **I created him! I wrote this fan fiction! Shut up and get out of my face, bimbo!

**Falchion: **Next episode, Fateful Encounter! What will the future hold for the Teen Titans? (Shoves Me and Raven out of the way with one hand, smiles and gives you a thumbs up with the other)

**Raven: **Bimbo? You better take that back right now!

**Me: **Or else what? I'll make you do something really embarrassing next chapter if you hurt me! Raven, put down that car! AAAAAHHH!

**Falchion: **Hey...

**Raven: **Hold on, I just want to crush you like a _bug_!

**Falchion:**...nobody's paying attention to me...

**Me: **AAGH! It's Raven's fault! I'm not paying for that building!

**Raven: **You'd better, you nimble little brat! You made me spend all my money, remember?

**Falchion:** Well, at least I still have my loyal Fan Girls!

**Me: **You aren't an Anime Character!

Raven: What about me?

Me: Nope.


	3. Glimmer

Of Shadow and Flame

Chapter 3: Glimmer

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. I don't even have a share in Warner Brother's or DC Comic's stock, so don't sue me if something shows up here that unintentionally matches the comics, or somebody else's ideas. Also, the whole real scenario here is mine, as well as all the new characters I bring in.

Pay attention! Read carefully! This one should give you an idea of the setup for the rest of the fic, and probably the others in the series. Constructive criticism still appreciated.

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"Not him!" Someone yelled as he, and most of the other gang members fled from the alleyway. Their leader stood there dumbly staring in disbelief.

Raven turned about in time to see a black gloved hand swat one of the Hispanic men into the wall and the other man into the ground with a sharp crack. The huge brown cloak wrapped around the man hid everything but his cold, pupil-less green eyes. Raven shivered at the look of utter contempt in those eyes, and for just a moment, she was terrified that he was looking at her like that.

He took three, slow, soundless steps towards Raven and the leader of the gang, his eyes never leaving the unfortunate man. The cloak was waving in a wind that didn't exist.

"Run," the brown-cloaked man's voice was cold, hateful, and above all, inhuman. The leader screamed and scrambled for the end of the alley, falling over himself several times in his haste. Falchion was standing no more than a foot to Raven's right, but she couldn't turn to look at him; her body refused to move.

"Are you hurt?" His voice was just as icy with Raven as with the gang. Raven shook her head slightly, shivering.

"Good," his voice softened. He reached out a hand and threw back his cowl. Raven stared in amazement as Falchion rubbed his neck and smiled at her.

"You...did that?" Raven asked, indicating the two men lying on the ground. Her brain couldn't quite grasp what was happening, but it was trying very hard.

"Oh, don't worry, they're not dead...I don't think so, at least," Falchion said with a nervous laugh. "Anyway, sorry about disappearing on you the other day. Something personal came up."

"You...when...how?" Raven asked, stunned. She let her hands go limp and stared in amazement at Falchion. Falchion raised an eyebrow, put his head to the side and gave Raven a quizzical look.

"Maybe I should explain over lunch. I haven't eaten since I left!" Falchion said, grasping his stomach in mock pain and smiling nervously. Raven snapped back to her senses at that. After all, most men considered sharing a meal a date.

"No, I don't want to intrude. Besides, I have something else to do....," Raven explained hurriedly, but her brain was having trouble coming up with a believable story. It always seemed to happen when she looked at those green eyes of his.

"I'm afraid I must insist. You've gotten much too thin in the last three days," Falchion said, straightening up and smiling. "Besides, I enjoy cooking for other people."

Falchion turned and strode towards the shop in a rustle of thick brown cloak.

"But I...," Raven tried to say, but he paid no attention. Raven shifted uncertainly, torn between running or following him. Her stomach growled about then, and with a small groan, Raven hurried after Falchion.

He was already in his back room by the time Raven got through the door.

"It'll only take a few minutes! Would you mind getting out the second stool while you wait?" Falchion called from behind his strange door. "Thanks!"

Raven sighed and walked around the counter. The second stool was remarkably hard to get loose from the counter; someone much stronger than Raven had shoved in place and had intended for it to stay there. Falchion was coming out of the backroom with a huge steaming platter full of food by the time Raven got the stool free.

"This is all I could fix up quickly. It isn't much, but it'll do," Falchion said, setting the platter down on the counter and flopping onto the stool Raven had just taken five minutes getting loose.

There was a huge plateful of rice, a mass of stir-fried vegetables, some of which Raven hadn't even tried before, and two large pieces of chicken soaking in a strong, spicy sauce.

"Thank you, but I really feel like this is all too much. I'm intruding..." Raven said, shaking her head and edging towards the end of the counter.

"Nonsense! This is a small mid-afternoon snack!" Falchion said confidently, dishing out generous quantities of the rice and vegetables onto a plate for Raven. "It'd be a waste for you not to eat it. There's too much for just one person."

Raven hung her head and took the plate. She sat down and skewered a piece of carrot with her fork, glancing nervously at Falchion. He was watching her like a hawk and hadn't touched his own food. He had a horribly anxious look on his face, like eating was of the utmost gravity.

Raven bit into the carrot. Flavors spread through her mouth instantly, many of which she'd never even imagined and all of them delightful. Raven chewed with a slight grin and took another bite quickly. And he made all of this in five minutes?

Falchion released his tension with a sigh and started to eat, looking elegant despite the remarkable rate at which the food vanished. He finished off his long before Raven and was halfway through a steaming cup of tea by the time Raven was done.

"Good?" Falchion said with a half smile.

"Wonderful! I've never eaten anything that tasted so good!" Raven said happily. Falchion handed her a cup of tea his smile broadening.

"It's always gratifying to a chef when his food is appreciated," Falchion said, pulling his legs up Indian style. "So, how were things while I was gone?"

"Oh," Raven said, halfway to taking a sip of her tea. "There was a message left for you earlier." Raven turned on the stool and scooped the note off the counter. Falchion took it from her, read it, and tossed it in the trash.

"Don't worry about it. I'm not going anywhere for a few days. I'll take care of it," Falchion said standing up. "So, how do you like the book?"

"What?" Raven asked, surprised. Then she remembered the book sitting behind her with several pieces of paper sticking out of it, marking interesting pages.

"Oh, that book," Raven said guiltily. "Look, I'm sorry I read it without your permission...."

"No, no, I never said you couldn't! Just tell me what you thought about it!" Falchion said apologetically, waving his arms around in irritation.

"Well...it reminded me of my past, and my friends," Raven said, searching her mind for anything better to say. "But I couldn't understand much of the meaning behind the poems themselves."

"I wouldn't expect you to. These poems are some three thousand years old, and the only record of the golden age that still exists," Falchion said, hopping off the stool and snatching the book off of the counter. "The age is aptly named, at least from what I know. I'd be happy to clarify a few things for you whenever I have the time."

He set the book back on the counter and scooped up the dishes. Raven put a hand on the immense tome and watched Falchion stroll into his backroom. He reappeared a moment later with a pile of scrolls and set them on the counter.

"This is the order from earlier, if you were wondering. You'd be amazed how many gang members use these," Falchion said, quickly sorting the scrolls into piles. "These are sleep scrolls, those are luck charms, these are speed charms, and these little beauties, are invisibility tokens."

"What are they using them for? And why would you sell something like that to gangsters?" Raven asked, already fairly certain for the reason behind the transactions.

"Oh, getaways, keeping the nightmares away, stuff like that. I make these special because these also make it much more unlikely for them to shoot people or get shot by them," Falchion said, pulling a stray lock of hair out of his face. "As for why I deal with them, it's mostly so they'll leave me alone, but of course there's the fact that the death rate is down eighty-percent since I started selling these."

"That many of them use those scrolls?" Raven asked in astonishment. The little pieces of paper didn't look like anything special at all, but then again, Raven couldn't recognize any of the writing on them. She'd picked up a little of the meaning of one or two characters, but it was still impossible to tell if they were real.

"Oh yes, they certainly do. I understand that they're standard equipment now," Falchion said, leaning back. He looked quite pleased with himself.

"With good reason," Raven mumbled to herself as she looked away. His eyes were making her feel odd again.

"Hmm, it's nearly two. I suppose you can go home now, if you'd like," Falchion said, glancing at the clock. Of course it didn't look anything like a clock; it was jet black with long silvery wisps of what looked distinctly like cobweb pointing to completely unintelligible symbols around the outside of the clock. The cobwebs had the annoying tendency to move the instant Raven looked away, but they were perfectly still when she looked at them. It was both infuriating and disturbing, a combination Raven wasn't accustomed to.

"I'd rather stay here, if you don't mind. There isn't much to do in my apartment," Raven said dully.

"And I thought you were the type that likes to be alone," Falchion said with a smirk. "Then again, you could just be after my books."

"No, I...," Raven closed her eyes and sighed. "I don't want to be alone."

Falchion raised an eyebrow and folded his arms.

"Do whatever you want, just as long as you're here on time tomorrow," Falchion said, dismissing her. He stepped behind the counter with a deceptively clumsy movement. Raven's brain took its cue and woke up.

"Hey, how did you beat those guys, anyway?" Raven asked, turning around to look at Falchion. He froze and turned his cold eyes back on her.

"I studied martial arts for a few years and use the scrolls to intimidate my enemies. That is all," Falchion said coldly. Raven swallowed hard as those eyes bore into her. It suddenly seemed to her that his reasoning was entirely sound; if the scrolls really worked, of course he could scare those people away.

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Raven dreamed of eyes.

His impossibly green eyes chased her through the city, down the corridors of Titan Tower, through the endless passages of an immense palace made of crystal. His eyes loomed ever closer, he was everywhere, but where Raven looked. She felt him stalking her, hunting her, always just out of sight, only just behind her. She was powerless, helpless, friendless, and desperate. She had to get away, to anywhere, to anyone.

Four red eyes loomed up in front of Raven.

Raven's eyes snapped open and she sat up panting. Her body was covered in sweat and she felt like she really had been running for her life from someone. She slipped out of bed and stumbled across her small apartment. She still wasn't used to having to use her eyes to see.

Raven's heart skipped a beat when she saw something black looming up next to her before she realized it was only her own cloak. She hurriedly flipped on the lights, swallowing.

Her apartment was empty. It was unreasonable, foolish of her to think anyone was there; she would have bumped into them in the little room.

Raven sat down on the bed and started meditating. Her mind was confused. She liked Falchion generally, but those eyes of his, and the way he had swatted two full grown men like insects, was troubling. Trusting him was out of the question, even if so far he'd done nothing but help her. She kept feeling like he was hemming her in somehow, like a hunter leading his prey into a trap.

Raven sighed and flopped back on her bed.

"What's wrong with me? I shouldn't even be worried about that dream. I'll be leaving as soon as the quarantine ends, anyways," Raven argued.

Raven started awake a moment before her alarm went off. She slammed the annoying thing off halfway through its first ring and got up. To Raven, there wasn't any point in sleeping if you didn't notice you were sleeping.

She got dressed, ignored the leftovers of dinner and headed for the shop. At least there, there was something to do, and someone to talk to. Perhaps he could explain her dream, but then why would he know of her father's four eyes?

"Ah!" Falchion said, springing up from his perch on the edge of the stool. "Just who I needed! Help me get this working. I can't figure out the accounting system."

Raven looked from Falchion to the laptop, to the large antique book next to it, and back again. She suppressed a sigh and slipped behind the counter.

Raven was almost finished with the program, which Falchion had neglected to register or update, when the bell clanged.

Raven looked up in irritation and wiped the grimace off her face immediately. Four men, obviously part of a successful crime syndicate, strode into the shop. Three of them were white men dressed in smart black suits and sunglasses; the forth was an unusually tall Native American with long, braided brown hair and transparent red sunglasses with platinum edging, which didn't even tint his bright blue eyes. He was dressed in a long brown trench coat with a grey suit and a huge platinum necklace that looked like a pendulum with wings, and knee-high, black, likely armored, boots. He hadn't bothered to tuck in his shirt or button up his coat or vest. He walked preceded slightly by his hips with his hands dug into his pockets, flashing a broad smile. He did a good job hiding the two guns under his coat, what with the disarming smile and that odd walk of his.

All in all, he looked distinctly like a well-dressed slob.

"It's been what, four weeks? Hey, man, when are you inviting me over for lunch again like you said?" he said, smiling broadly. He looked quite sure of himself as he extended a hand, but he was sweating with anxiety.

"It's only been three weeks, actually, Glasses," Falchion said shaking his hand gently. "But you still wouldn't have met Fiona. She's my new employee."

"Well, nice to meet you, lady! It's not everyday I meet a pretty girl like you around here!" he said, breathing visible garlic fumes flooding over Raven's face. Raven suppressed a cough and ignored his broad smile. His eyes flicked down, taking in Raven's figure, and back up to her face. Raven hated him already, and left his hand hanging when he extended it.

Glasses shrugged and gave Raven a sideways nod and a shrug, clearly saying it was her loss.

Falchion slammed the pile of scrolls down on the counter between them, forcing out a small, quivering smile. His eyes were shut, several veins were popping out on his forehead, and his left eye was twitching. Glasses took the hint.

"Get those for me, boys. Usual price, bro?" Glasses said amiably, smiling as he whipped out a thick pad of hundred dollar bills.

"Probably," Falchion said dully.

Glasses tossed the money down on the counter, smiling, and stepped back.

"I'll be back next month for another batch. Watch yourselves till then," Glasses said over his shoulder as he walked for the door. "Especially you, pretty girl."

The doorbell clanged as the four men left the shop.

"I don't like that man," Raven said the instant they were out of earshot.

"I don't particularly like him either...but he's not all bad. At least I can stand a short conversation with him," Falchion said as he picked up the pocketbook and stuck it under the counter. "It doesn't really matter, he's just a customer as far as I'm concerned."

Raven shook her head and turned back to the laptop. The program was finished though, so the laptop wasn't an excuse. Raven shut it off and pulled down the nearest book, well aware of Falchion's eyes on her.

"Well, I think I'll go out for a bit. I've a few errands to run," Falchion said suddenly, hopping up. "What would you like me to cook for lunch?"

Raven stared at him for a moment, trying to decide if it was merely professional courtesy. It seemed normal enough.

"I don't have any preferences," Raven said, turning back to her book. It was a documentary of animals, none of which she'd ever heard of. Even Beast Boy had never changed into any of the bizarre creatures that the book so thoroughly described.

"Oh. Well, I'll be back in an hour or so, then," Falchion said as he strode across the shop and shoved the door open.

"Bye," Raven said absentmindedly. The book was much more intriguing than Falchion's activities, provided Raven wasn't the object of his interest.

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"What the hell is _Raven_ doing in _your_ shop?" Glasses yelled, slamming his hand into the car door.

"Control your temper. I'm just keeping an eye on her. She's actually why I'm here," Falchion said coldly. The two were sitting in the back of a large black limousine with heavily armed men guarding it. Falchion had his legs crossed with his fingers laced, resting on his uppermost knee. Glasses was sprawled indignantly on the opposite seat, both guns openly displayed.

"What, planning on selling her out? I'll be more than happy to kill that half-demon bitch!" Glasses said, slumping back with a hand on each of his guns.

"I know how you feel about demons, and there's little worse than losing your parents to them," Falchion said, leaning towards Glasses, eyes glowing. "But you must understand that Raven has blocked their progress at every turn."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But that doesn't change what she is," Glasses sighed, leaning back and shaking his head. "She's His daughter. You don't make friends with someone in that family."

"I don't intend to, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm protecting her, and as you know my line of work keeps me away quite often, so...," Falchion said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pair of small gems. "I need you to look after her when I'm away."

"_What? _No way! I'll kill myself first!" Glasses said, waving his arms about frantically, already aware that he wasn't going to get out of it.

"These crystals are made of pure positive energy. Mount them on your guns, and exterminating demons will get much easier," Falchion said, setting them on the seat. "You will, agree, won't you?"

"Man," Glasses lowered his hands. "You know I already have!"

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Author's Note: Well, that's chapter three. Sorry it took so long to update, but I've been a little busy with school. And don't complain about language-it's not that bad.

Character Talk

**Glasses:** Hey, what'd ya know, I'm in an Anime!

**Me: **Fanfic.

**Falchion: **It's an anime from our perspective.

**Guy in a black coat: **I'll say.

**Raven: **Who's he?

**Me: **Oh, don't worry. You'll find out.

**Guy in a black coat: **I'm your...

**Falchion: **Shut up!

**Glasses: **Don't finish that sentence! The readers are listening!

**Raven: **Well, since Falchion's occupied...next episode, Truth! I'll finally find out what's really going on!

**Me: **Ha, you wish!


	4. Fight

Of Shadow and Flame

Chapter 4: Fight

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. I don't even have a share in Warner Brother's or DC Comic's stock, so don't sue me if something shows up here that unintentionally matches the comics, or somebody else's ideas. Also, the whole real scenario here is mine, as well as all the new characters I bring in.

Alright, this is what some of my faithful readers have been waiting for. Chapter four is where the action comes in and a new enemy shows up...and, of course, the Titans come into it, too.

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Raven groaned and sat up, shaking her head. Things came into focus slowly and the row of antiques across from her startled her.

"What?" Raven half cried, snapping awake. "Why am I in the shop?"

"Because you wouldn't leave my books be. You fell asleep, again," Falchion said, setting a cup of tea in front of Raven. She hadn't noticed him when she woke up.

"Thanks. What time is it?" Raven asked, picked up the cup gratefully and noticing the blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"About eight. Why, is there somewhere you need to go?" Falchion said, picking up his own cup. Raven almost choked on her tea.

"Eight...in the morning? You mean I slept here all _night_?" Raven cried, standing up.

"Yep. You fell asleep facedown in that book about animals, remember? Maybe you should switch books. You've been on that one for almost a week now." Falchion said, pointing to the book in question. It was creased where Raven's face had rested on it.

"I can't believe it! I don't even remember getting sleepy!" Raven said, hurriedly straightening out the creased page. "Thanks for letting me stay here, and for the blanket."

"It wasn't any trouble. You actually gave me something to occupy myself with," Falchion said, smiling and glancing at the end of the counter.

Raven stared at the painting. The canvas was painted so it looked like a window into the shop, with Raven sleeping in the middle with an arm cupped under her head. Raven didn't recognize that it was her at first; She looked like a sleeping angel, an epitome of beauty among the oddities of the shop. It didn't suit someone dark like Raven.

"It's...nice, but," Raven said slowly, fishing for words.

"It isn't supposed to be nice. I drew what was there, nothing more, nothing less," Falchion said distantly, then, brightening up. "And how would you know what you look like when you're sleeping?"

The bell clanged.

Falchion glanced over his shoulder casually and froze. Raven turned to look as well, but all she could see was the frost on the door.

"Frost?" Raven thought out loud. "But it's not cold enough!" The windows, she noticed a moment later lacked even a drop of water.

"I'm afraid one of my charms has gone awry," Falchion said, sighing. "I'll have to go fix it. You can stay in the shop today if you want, but it's Sunday, so lock up if you go home."

"Um..." Raven asked as Falchion hopped up and headed for the door. "When will you be back?"

"I'll try to be back by tonight, but I might be gone a few days, so..." Falchion said, flashing a false smile at Raven.

"Watch the shop. Got it," Raven said dully, slumping. It didn't seem like the right thing to say. She wanted to ask him what was really wrong, but he'd probably just smile and explain his story, just like the last two times. If he did that, Raven would probably end up believing him and she'd be right back where she was before. No, it wouldn't do to ask him directly.

The bell clanged and he was gone before Raven could add so much as a goodbye to her abrupt comment. She shook her head and reached out to close the book in front of her.

Raven's hand hovered an inch from the page. The page wasn't like the others in the animal documentary; it had a short paragraph and a short poem, and nothing else but the name of the entity.

"Noble?" Raven read, running a hand over the page. "A race of unknown origin who do not hail from any known world, these creatures come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from small humanoids to enormous lizards, to seemingly inanimate lumps of rock. The only physical trait that all Nobles share is a large crystal growing in their chests, and they all also possess Tera Humanoid Intelligence."

Raven shook her head at the page staring at the poem. It looked as if the thing had changed position as soon as she read the paragraph above it, but that couldn't be.

Their hair is of the finest gold, their skin as pale as death;

their heartless chests bear a crystal and their brows the

weight of horrors untold. In the night they come, in the

day they battle, and leave worlds in ruin in the twilight.

In their eyes, dying galaxies fall away for all eternity, drawing

their victims with them. If there is a god, let him end the

Noble, for if he does not, surely they shall end us all.

Raven read, shivering. She swallowed and turned the page. A picture of a Century Dragon stared back at her, distant, defined, and normal, as far as this book went.

Raven slammed the book shut and put it back on the shelf. She decided to find something without apocalyptic poems in it.

Falchion pulled the cloak around his shoulders as he ran down the street. This action would only have been unusual if he hadn't been running at about eighty miles per hour.

"What's the rush? I'm right here," a cruel, but not unfamiliar voice called as Falchion dashed past. Falchion slid sideways and turned around, crouching defensively. But the man he expected to be attacking him was leaning against a building, smirking, with no sign he meant any harm.

He stood exactly equal in height with Falchion, looked like him, but with white hair and a gaunter face. He was dressed from head to foot in tight leather with a long black coat. He didn't wear a shirt, but instead a black vest with an armless coat over it. His thickly muscled arms had a pair of armored vamguards on the end of them and he was wearing a pair of black opaque sunglasses. His pants, the only loose part of his outfit, fed into a pair of motorcycling boots.

"I'm supposed to assume you left that challenge on my door for fun, then?" Falchion said coldly, standing up. "I'm not in the mood for a joke, Vronse."

"Of course not. I just thought I'd give you a...heads up," Vronse said, cocking his head to one side and widening his smirk. "You see, I've found a way around our little agreement."

"How?" Falchion asked coldly. Truthfully, he didn't really expect an answer, but it was worth a shot.

"You'll figure it out!" Vronse said with a laugh. And with that, he hopped into the air and vanished in a haze of frozen air.

Falchion restrained himself from cursing, lashing out at the people around him, or following Vronse; he didn't, however, manage to keep from grabbing the closest lamppost and crushing it.

Raven was enjoying a good account of an ancient mage or two and a steaming cup of fresh tea when the bell tinkled furtively. By now Raven was noticing that the bell seemed to ring in however the person opening the door felt, but she couldn't b e absolutely sure without her powers. She didn't bother looking up at first, but when a familiar voice squealed loud enough to make the bottles behind her vibrate, it suddenly became much more difficult to read.

"Friend Raven!" Starfire cried as she flew across the room at her friend.

Raven was stunned, and partially in shock. Or it might have been because her spine was cracking in Starfire's arms.

"I'm happy to see you too, but I can't breathe!" Raven gasped. That wasn't the only reason she wanted Starfire off her; their proximity to one another weakened the seal on Raven's powers.

"Oh, it is so good to see you! I was beginning to think I would never see you again!" Starfire gushed, still hugging Raven, just a bit more gently. "Where have you been all this time!"

"I'd like to know that too," Robin said coolly. What with Starfire's crushing embrace, Raven hadn't even noticed him, or what the two were wearing. Starfire and Robin were both in normal teenage clothing, and startlingly Robin was missing his mask for the first time in Raven's memory.

"Well, I..." Raven started to say as Robin crossed the room, but as soon as he reached the counter, the door flew open violently. Falchion was standing there with his eyes glowing brightly. The cloak around him flowed like a living mass, reaching out and grasping the doorframe and the floor, and his entire body seemed larger, hardly fitting in the door's seven-foot space.

His eyes lanced across the three friends, sending shivers through each of them, and with that, he strode across the room and through the back door.

"Who was that?" Robin asked shakily. He was leaning against the counter, easily as pale as Raven used to be. Starfire had lost her usual radiant look and looked rather like a frightened animal clinging to Raven for support.

"He was terrifying!" Starfire exclaimed. Her hands were very cold.

Raven had no doubt that she looked just as frightened as Starfire, those eyes had cut her down to the core, and they had been so accusing. Was it wrong for her friends to be here?

"He was...my employer," Raven replied in a small voice. "Falchion. He's not normally like that."

"I've fought super villains less intimidating than him!" Robin said, shaking himself back to his suave self. "How in the world did you wind up here with _him_? And why'd you leave the Titans in the first place?"

"Beast Boy was most worried, as were all of us. It just did not seem like you to leave," Starfire added, almost like she felt guilty for Raven's departure. It made Raven feel guilty herself, but it was still somewhat of a relief to meet them again.

"I left for personal reasons, and I wound up with Falchion by chance. I'm sorry you were worried about me, but as you can see, I'm fine. Almost normal, in fact," Raven said quietly, trying to suppress several emotions that kept fighting to the surface. Happiness and fear were on the top and despite the fact that she wouldn't really have minded happiness, she didn't particularly want to hurt her image.

"But Raven, you're living in..." but Robin didn't get to finish. The backroom opened with a loud groan as Falchion shuffled back into the main room in his normal clothes. He had his face in an enormous book, quickly flipping through pages, not sparing a glance for the Titans in the room. He slumped down on a stool and set the book on the counter, still rifling through the pages with a troubled look on his face.

"Is there anything I can...?" Raven asked quietly.

"Not really, Raven," Falchion answered coldly.

"How...? When did you figure out...?" Raven gasped. But she'd hardly asked the question before it was obvious.

"Two of the Teen Titans walk into my shop and recognize you, treat you like a dear friend, and call you Raven, and I'm supposed not to know who you really are?" Falchion said coolly, then he shook his head. "I'm not a fool."

Before awakening her emotions, Raven could have simply taken this in stride but now, to her surprise, Falchion's words hurt. She sat back on the stool and looked at him wide-eyed.

Robin's communicator started beeping.

"What's the trouble?" Robin said in hushed tones turning away from the visible tension between Raven and Falchion.

"Oh, not much, just _Slade's back with an army_!" Cyborg yelled. "_Get over here, now_!"

Robin snapped the communicator closed and pulled off his shirt. Starfire did the same and in a few moments they were both in costume.

"Raven, may we ask for your help?" Starfire asked quietly. Robin had that horribly determined look on his face again, but he was waiting patiently.

"I don't have my powers anymore. I sealed them when I left the Titans," Raven said, quietly, bowing her head. "I'm sorry."

"Come on Star, we don't have time," Robin said coldly. Starfire turned reluctantly and flew out of the shop after Robin.

Raven jumped when Falchion slammed the book down and stood up.

"What's going on here? Slade shouldn't have recovered so soon," Falchion said coldly, then, turning to Raven. "Perhaps you should go after all."

"But I don't have any power," Raven protested, looking up.

"You don't have to use your power. I'll give you all you need," Falchion said as he strode around the counter and took a stack of scrolls off the shelf. He sorted them and came back, setting them on the counter in front of Raven in separate little piles.

"Gaushin, Maknua, Ignaun, Rauhn," Falchion said, tapping each separate little pile of scrolls in turn. "Summoning, Empowerment, Inferno, Lighting Fist. Say the word "Kanju" with one of these scrolls in your right hand and it will automatically target your enemy, or ally, dependant upon the nature of the scroll. Take them."

"But I can't! I can't go anywhere near them or the seals..."Raven said, terrified at the idea.

"You don't need to be very near to them, Raven. These scrolls only require eye contact, and with the sky scrapers in this city, that means you can be several miles away," Falchion explained, then he smiled. "Go help your friends. It's what you really want."

Raven stared at him in wonder for a moment, then she smiled warmly, grabbed the scrolls, and ran out of the shop.

"Hurry, Raven. Go and get your power back," Falchion said as his clothes changed shape and his cloak dropped out of the air around him and settled itself around his shoulders.

To put it bluntly, the Titans were getting pounded.

Robin was fighting Slade personally, but how he ever thought he'd be able to beat him was beyond Raven; he hadn't landed a single blow yet and Slade had already broken a few of his ribs. Beast Boy was getting swarmed by a hoard of Slade double robots and Starfire was flattened by Cinderblock and Plasmus working together. Cyborg was holding his own against a hoard of robots, but he was outnumbered eighty to one.

That's about what Raven saw from the top of an office building a half a mile away.

"Kanju!" Raven said, holding up the summoning scroll. The ground underneath Raven glowed faintly in a crisscross of runes, and with a small puff of energy...nothing happened.

Raven swallowed hard and looked at the scroll turning to dust in her hands. There had been power there, she knew it! She must have simply done it wrong.

Raven's fears were dispelled a moment later when an enormous snake, easily three hundred feet long, shot out from the ground and grabbed the Titans up in its tail while it bit pieces off of the androids and tried to crush Cinderblock in its coils.

Raven almost laughed at how helpless Slade's robots were, but Slade's absence bothered her. He'd slipped away as soon as the snake appeared, and with Falchion's scrolls on her side, getting him back wouldn't be a problem. Raven raised another summoning scroll and hoped for something that she could ride to appear as she said the magic word.

A horse-sized dragon whisked into existence and tossed Raven onto its back. So, then, the scrolls worked just as she'd hoped: they reacted the way the user wanted them to.

"Follow Slade!" Raven yelled, pointing. She still had plenty of scrolls left, and it would be fun to see just what the dragon could do.

It was a quick trip; Slade had only gone down to a secluded section of the city before he stopped. Evidently, he thought the Titans wouldn't think to look so close.

The Dragon swooped down and landed about twenty feet in front of Slade with a scrape of claws.

"Where did you think you were going?" Raven asked smugly.

"Why, Raven, you underestimate me. I wasn't going anywhere. You were coming to me," Slade said, raising a glittering red crystal in his right hand. "Now join the right side."

Slade threw the crystal, and Raven never had a chance to dodge it. The crystal buried itself in her chest at the same moment the dragon threw her off and melted away into air.

The last thing Raven knew as she fell was the other Titans rushing towards her and Slade's laughter.

"It seems that at least one of my children are useful," a familiar voice echoed.

Raven snapped upright like a rag roll as a pair of huge fingers snatched her up to dangle in front of four, huge red eyes.

Raven managed to force her head upright, but it didn't matter; she knew exactly whose face she was in front of and what she was doing there.

"I hope you like what I have planned for you and your little 'friends'," Raven's father's voice boomed. "Because you're going to watch all of it!"

Raven felt her spirit being thrown back to her body with a flick of his accursed wrist. And then a feeling of utter horror overtook her.

The Titans were writhing in pain as Raven's power drained from their bodies without properly breaking the seals. And after that, aside from Slade standing at a safe distance chuckling, it was exactly like the dream that sent her away from the Titans. Her hands moved in accord with someone else's mind and she struck down Starfire and Robin, ironically, at once. Or perhaps it was some shred of Raven's own compassion, twisted in this new version of herself that let them die together. She ripped Cyborg's robotic parts to shreds with the slightest effort and blew up the nearest buildings for good measure.

Her dream, to her utter horror, was coming true, and there was nothing she could do, no matter how hard she fought. Beast Boy was in the air now, still with that look of disbelief and betrayal. Raven wanted to scream as a horrible cold lump formed in her stomach.

The crack she so vividly remembered from her dream came, and Raven found her body hurtling towards the nearest building with a sharp pain in her neck.

Raven's powers caught her, again as a sort of reflex, and she whirled around in time to see Falchion setting Beast Boy on the ground and Slade flying backwards, obviously from a considerable attack; his body embedded itself several feet into the side of a building.

"You disappoint me, Raven. I thought you were stronger than this," Falchion said. His voice only vaguely resembled a humans, and now that Raven had her perceptions back, it was obvious he wasn't even half-human.

"You'll see how strong I am...and my name isn't Raven! I'm Fiona!" Raven spoke without her own will. The name Fiona rung a bell, though.

The words had hardly left her lips before Falchion was in front of her.

"I do not wish to speak with a Ba'alzebub. Get out of the way and let Raven speak for herself," Falchion said coldly, lifting a hand and waving in a way that clearly dismissed Fiona. In any case, Raven found that she could suddenly talk again.

"My friends, they...!" Raven cried, trying to move. But aside from her mouth, she was paralyzed.

"They're fine, Raven. You restrained your dark half's attacks very well, all things considered," Falchion said calmly. His eyes were boring into hers, calmly tearing away at something within her.

"What...something...there's something in my chest..." Raven stammered as his eyes burned deeper into her.

"Yes, I see. I'm sorry, Raven, but this will hurt quite a bit," Falchion said coldly. Raven was almost certain she caught a hint of malice in his voice.

Falchion rammed his hand into Raven's chest and ripped the crystal out. Raven thought that when that crystal had first gone in, it had hurt more than anything else in her life, and she'd felt that while she was passing out. Not only was she awake for this, but it hurt ten times worse.

Raven was only dimly aware that she screamed. Everything went dull after she felt, and heard, the crystal being ripped loose. She collapsed to the ground, but she still wasn't allowed to pass out. Falchion's eyes held her awake as he bent over her with a hand outstretched to gently touch her forehead

"Control your emotions, Raven, or having the crystal or not having it will make no difference," Falchion's normal voice came to her, not spoken, but directly to her mind. "I will tend to your body, but you must tend to your mind."

And with that, Raven was allowed to slip away, down into the darkness of her mind.

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Author's Note: Well, that's chapter four. I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I've been really preoccupied lately. If you're going to review it, please ask questions in the review and leave your email; it gives me a break from writing papers to respond to people.

Character talk

**Vronse:** Ha ha ha! My plan worked!

**Me:** Oh, shut about the plan! I made it up, anyway!

**Falchion:** Then it's your fault I'm stuck looking after Raven!

**Vronse:** No! It was me! I did it! I'm the bad guy!

**Slade:** It would seem that it was my fault, as I did all the work.

**Falchion:** But you've still got a broken arm from the whole Terra thing!

**Me:** Oh, be quiet. Where's Beast Boy?

**Beast Boy:** Huh?

**Me:** Okay, that's the one line I promised I'd give you.

**Beast Boy:** Hey! But I'm not even in the fanfic, or at least not the real fanfic!

**Vronse:** You know, BB, it really isn't that great. And look at it this way; you're not acting all sappy and weird.

**Beat Boy:** Why would I be?

**Me:** Ku ku ku ku...stick around and find out!

**Falchion:** Hoo boy, should have kept his mouth closed. Oh well, next episode, Moving in!

**Me:** How many times am I gonna say this? This isn't an anime! Though, strangely, you got the name of the last chapter right...


	5. Relocating

Of Shadow and Flame

Chapter 5: Relocating

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. I don't even have a share in Warner Brother's or DC Comic's stock, so don't sue me if something shows up here that unintentionally matches the comics, or somebody else's ideas. Also, the whole real scenario here is mine, as well as all the new characters I bring in.

Author's note: Well, this is it. The rap up for this story. Don't worry though, I'm leaving it very, very open ended and with plenty of room for antics later on.

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Raven dragged her eyes open wearily. She felt like she'd slept a hundred years, at least. Her emotions had put up a remarkable fight, and she wasn't sure they were entirely in hand even now.

"Awake at last," Falchion said quietly. Raven jerked her head sideways; she was certain the ceiling above her belonged to the Titans Tower medical bay, so why would he be here?

"Falchion?" Raven asked, wincing. Her right lung didn't seem to be working right.

"Shh, don't talk. I did what I could, but your lungs are still weak. It's only been two days, after all," Falchion said, coolly raising a finger in front of Raven. "I can't have you splitting open again."

"I...," Raven started to say, but the pain in her chest stopped her. Falchion shook his head and sighed, standing up in a mass of brown cloak. It turned out, amazingly enough, that there was actually a chair under there he'd been sitting on.

"I had to remove something from your body by force. As a result, I had to re-grow a large piece of your chest quickly. The repaired tissue is still weak, thus the pain, and will remain so for several more days," Falchion explained calmly as his hood, seemingly by itself, slid up to cover his head and he turned to leave. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need some rest. I'll tell your friends you're awake, and you can call me if you need anything else."

"Wait," Raven called as loudly as she dared. Falchion turned back to face her, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Thanks," Raven said, smiling as best she could. Her body was quite weak, and her lips hardly moved at all.

"It was my duty," Falchion said icily. "Nothing more. Save the sentimental nonsense for your friends." And with that, he spun on his heel and stalked out of the room.

Raven was still staring after him when the other Titans rushed in, with Beast Boy in the lead.

"You are healed?" Starfire asked, floating next to Raven's bed with Robin at her side.

"I think so," Raven said quietly, trying hard not to stress her body. Raven looked at them in wonder. Three days ago three of them had certainly been very badly hurt, yet there wasn't a scratch on them.

"Not quite, it sounds like. Frankly, I'm amazed you're even alive," Robin said quietly, looking her over for at least the thousandth time. He kept seeing her with a hole the size of his head in her chest and green flame pouring out of Falchion's hand, writhing towards her wound like a nest of snakes. But of course, that same flame had healed all of them, so he had no reason to doubt its purpose.

"Sooooo, uh, Raven, Cyborg and I were wondering..." Beast Boy said sheepishly, toeing the floor.

"We want to know if, now that you're back, you're gonna stay on as a Titan again," Cyborg said, taking up the slack for the changeling.

"I don't know," Raven said, averting her eyes. "My powers aren't under my control."

She felt all of them staring at her then. It just didn't seem like Raven at all; she was the voice of reason, the one who always kept calm and under control. "Aren't under my control" wasn't how any of them ever thought they'd hear her describe her power.

"Are you perhaps hungry? I can make a Tamaranian stew to speed up the healing, or..." Starfire said, hovering ready for any command Raven had for her.

"No, I don't need food. My powers can sustain me," Raven said quietly. "I only used to eat with you as a courtesy."

"Don't need to eat? What do you mean, don't need to eat?" Cyborg said agape. "You mean I could have had your share all this time?"

Raven couldn't help but smile at that. The wall behind her cracked as a result. Cyborg snapped his mouth shut and Robin's eye twitched slightly. Starfire didn't seem to notice it, and Beast Boy tried to smile back at Raven like nothing had happened.

"Oh, sorry," Raven said quickly, fighting her emotions back.

"Let's all just let Raven rest for a little longer," Robin said quietly. "Come on, we can all check on her in the morning."

Raven glanced at the window as her friends reluctantly marched out under Robin's watch. It was pitch black outside, and most of the lights in the city were out. It had to be close to midnight.

Raven was touched that they had all gotten up in the middle of the night to check on her...not that it was really anything out of the ordinary; they were all used to getting up at a moments notice anyway.

The door slid shut after Robin. Raven started to lay back down, but stopped. Too many questions were nagging at her mind for rest, and there was no one to talk to until morning.

With a sigh, Raven crossed her legs and slowly said the familiar chant. It'd been so long now that it felt a little odd, but a few weeks gap in a five year repetition was nothing that could stop Raven.

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Her lungs were feeling almost normal again by morning, but her curiosity was growing as steadily as ever. Crazy theories about Falchion and Slade and everything strange that had happened over the last few weeks dashed around Raven's mind, despite the chant, each new theory more insane than the last. And most maddening of all, the only person who knew what was really going on was Falchion and he'd probably just make up a fake answer if she asked.

"Well, I might as well give it a try..." Raven said in her old monotone as her eyes slid open. "Falchion, I need you!"

"Hrmm?" Falchion mumbled as he trudged through the door teapot in hand. "Need something?"

"I want to ask you some questions, and I don't want you to lie about them this time," Raven asked, scooting around to face him, noticing that she was in her old costume. "First of all, who dressed me?"

"Starfire," Falchion said hastily, pouring a cup of tea. "I suppose you'll still want tea, even if food's out of the question?"

"You're not telling the truth. Starfire would get my clothes back to front," Raven said dully. "And yes, I still want tea."

"Very well. Would it make you feel better if I said, say, Beast Boy dressed you?" Falchion said quietly as he handed the cup in his hand to Raven.

"Beast Boy wouldn't be dumb enough...," Raven said, taking the tea, but Falchion cut her off.

"Raven, you were half-dead. Do you really think the Titans would leave you even for a moment? They were all there when Starfire dressed you, getting everything in order." Falchion said quietly, setting the teapot in his lap as he took his place in the chair and crossed his legs. He was, to Raven's mild amusement, wearing a fluffy white dressing robe with blue long-necked, golden beaked geese on it. It clashed horribly with his eyes and hair, which was slicked back from his face in a freshly washed looking straight mass of bright silver.

"I guess not. Then they all saw, well..." Raven trailed off, looking away.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Falchion said, taking his teapot in hand and rising to go.

He was halfway out the door by the time Raven realized what he was doing.

"Hold it!" Raven called angrily. "I know what you're doing!"

"Oh? What am I doing?" Falchion asked, raising an eyebrow. Only his head was still showing around the side of the door. He'd nearly weaseled out of answering again!

"You're trying to get out of answering my other questions, now come back here," Raven said triumphantly. Falchion sighed, slumped his shoulders, and turned to come back in.

Beast Boy and Starfire shot through in front of him, looking for all the world like a couple of kids at Christmas.

"Friend Raven! You are well? You must tell us all about what happened!" Starfire all but yelled in Raven's face as she hovered over her bed.

"Yeah, and why you left in the first place!" Beast Boy said, not nearly so energetically. Raven recognized it as the same shy way he used to act with Terra.

"Wait, no, get out of the way!" Raven said, forcing her head between her two friends. But she was too late. Falchion had escaped again.

"Something is wrong?" Starfire asked innocently. Raven was starting to wonder if she had even seen Falchion.

"No, Starfire, it's fine. By the way, did you see which way Falchion went?" Raven asked as she stood up.

"Falchion? Dude, that guy's still hogging the bathroom!" Beast Boy said angrily.

"You didn't see him?" Raven asked, staring at the two of them. "What about you, Starfire?"

"No, he was not here. He has been washing his hair...," Starfire said, looking slightly bewildered. "Is this the same as when Robin saw Slade?"

"I doubt it. His hair was wet," Raven said sarcastically as she headed for the door. Starfire and Beast Boy followed her all the way to the bathroom.

It was empty. Nothing odd there; he wouldn't be caught so easily. Raven sighed and turned for the main room.

"Hey, when are you going to explain what happened?" Beast Boy asked insistently. Frankly, explaining wasn't very high on Raven's list of things to do.

"Let's get Robin and Cyborg first...and Falchion, if we can find him," Raven answered, grinding her teeth. She didn't expect to see Falchion again until she was preoccupied with something else.

The smell of eggs greeted them when they stepped into the main room.

"Hey, Raven!" Cyborg said loudly, standing up and walking across to her. "I was just coming to see you!"

Raven glanced past him at the game on the screen. He hadn't had time to pause it.

"Right..." Raven said sarcastically.

"So, Raven. You're looking...normal," Robin said, smiling as he walked up to her.

"I feel like I'm back to just how I was when I left...with too much power and not enough control," Raven said, shaking her head. It took her a moment to realize that if Robin wasn't cooking and Cyborg wasn't, and Beast Boy and Starfire were with her, then that only left....

"Falchion!" Raven yelled as she walked past Robin hurriedly.

Falchion turned around, blinking mildly as if he hadn't meant to avoid her at all. He managed to look vague and detached, even though he was vigorously stirring and flipping a pile of eggs in the largest pan in the tower.

"I'm a bit busy right now. Could you wait a moment?" Falchion asked kindly before he turned back to the stove.

"I'll wait, but I'm not letting you out of my sight," Raven said as she took a seat at the counter. The Titans looked on in wonder and exchanged glances. Then Robin smiled evilly.

"So, Raven, how was it you met Falchion again?" Robin asked as he took a seat next her. Starfire floated down beside him and Beast Boy took a seat on the other side and Cyborg leaned on the counter behind him.

"Yeah, we're all real interested in how you met such a tall, dark, handsome stranger..._except _he's not dark...," Beast Boy said, growing more and more envious as he went. What was it with tall guys? They always got more attention than him!

"I saw a poster advertising work in his shop and decided it would be an okay place to hide until the quarantine was lifted," Raven said quietly. She was serious about not letting Falchion out of her sight; every time he ducked under the counter for a pan, she half stood up so he wouldn't sneak off.

"Odd. Starfire and I came to the shop because _we_ saw a poster," Robin said, turning to Falchion.

"Interesting coincidence, eh?" Falchion said calmly, serving out food. "By the way, breakfast's ready."

"Yes, isn't it? It seems odd that we'd see that poster and come to the shop just in time to be called away to fight Slade," Robin explained, narrowing his eyes. "And considering what happened to Raven, it couldn't all just be a coincidence."

"Very well, someone set it up. It's not my business if someone, say Slade, moves a poster to get you to come to my shop to meet Raven," Falchion said, smiling. "Now, I'd appreciate it if you tried some of my cooking. Raven said it tastes good."

"Oh, Raven ate with you as well?" Starfire said innocently. "What did you not do together?"

"We shared lunch. That's all," Raven said quickly. Then it occurred to her that Falchion was leading them off subject again.

"I've been thinking, Falchion, it seems like every time someone tries to talk to you about something serious, you always have a convenient excuse to get out of answering," Robin said suddenly, looking up from his eggs. "I have one more question before we eat. What were you doing before you came back to the shop the day Slade attacked?"

"I was fixing one of my scrolls," Falchion said simply, leaning back. Raven stared at his apron. It was, quite possibly, the most ridiculous contrast she'd ever seen. Over his somber, dark clothes he was wearing a huge pink apron with an immense red pig profile on it. The extremely fat, cute pig had a small pair of wings on its back, an immense piggish grin on its round face and a mischievous glint in its visible beady black eye.

It took all the self control Raven had not to start laughing.

"Raven, is that true?" Robin asked, stonily calm. Evidently he'd already encountered the apron.

"He said so then, but I don't believe him. He's had plenty of practice dodging questions with me, after all," Raven said, stifling her sense of humor to attain her monotone. "Personally, I think he went to see someone."

Falchion threw a murderous look at Raven and looked down at the food in front of him quickly. The others didn't seem to notice, but there was no guarantee Robin didn't just file it away like any other observation.

"You should eat before it gets cold," Falchion said quietly, picking up a fork.

"No thanks, I don't need to," Raven said, smiling maliciously.

Falchion turned around and stabbed his eggs viciously a few times. He could put up with a lot, but when people insulted his cooking...! He calmed down and told himself that she was just trying to keep an eye on him. Heh, like she could!

"Raven, could you pass the salt?" Falchion asked sweetly, like a winter chime.

Raven wordlessly reached for the salt, but stopped suddenly and snapped her eyes back to Falchion.

"You don't ever make mistakes in your cooking. Not once did you add anything to something you cooked once it was on your plate." Raven said slowly, staring into Falchion's bottomless green eyes. "And the salt is closer to you, anyway."

Falchion sighed and set down his plate.

"That one was pretty bad, huh?" Falchion said, frowning. "I suppose you'll insist I answer all your questions now?"

"Of course. So, who are you, really?" Raven said calmly. Surely she had him at last.

"Omriniad Grias enwe shrenkoi junra," Falchion said, smiling. Raven's jaw dropped and she all but drooled.

The Old Tongue! How in the world did you learn it?" Raven asked, envy practically glowing in her eyes.

"Oh, it wasn't that hard. A few books here, an acquaintance there..." Falchion said, closing one eye and tilting his head up and to his right, smiling broadly. "You get around in my profession."

"I'm sorry, you misunderstand. I recognize the language but I haven't the faintest clue what you just said," Raven said, shaking her head. It was hard enough for her to read the language, let alone speak it. Legend has it that only a few chosen ones ever learn to speak more than a few words of it.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to research it, then. You'll have to _win _an answer in English if you want one," Falchion said smugly. "A battle of wills...a game, of sorts, if you will."

"Game?" Raven stared at him in surprise. The other Titans had managed to finish eating in time to stare at her. Raven looked at them out of the corners of her eyes quickly.

"I'll supply the books and give you a few hints, if you want to do the research. Otherwise, I'm open to any other fair intellectual battle, such as those your friends seem so interested in," Falchion said, smugly, as he swept his hand in an inviting way. "If, of course, you agree with my terms."

"I'll do the research," Raven said quickly, letting her eyes droop slightly. She'd never live it down if her friends caught her playing one of those ridiculous computer games. After all, she _was _the one that had called them mindless idiots for playing them at all.

"So glad we could make a bargain," Falchion said, widening his smile. "I'll hold you to it."

Raven groaned.

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"So, I take it everything's cool in the Tower?" Glasses said quietly.

"Yes, for now. I let them talk me into an agreement with Raven, though I doubt her friends will honor it," Falchion said coldly, lacing his fingers. "Now I want you to answer something in return. Where's Slade?"

"Slade, my friend, is holed up recuperating from his fight with Terra in a facility eighty miles east of here waiting for his arm to heal," Glasses said, leaning forward and tipping his glasses down. "And I promise you, my man, he didn't even know somebody'd got out his old robots."

"So I was right...Vronse used Slade's machines to get around the Binding," Falchion said, tipping his head down and smiling in a pained way. "I'll have to stick around the Titans then, or Raven will most likely fall under 'His' control."

"Sure, that's real smart! What happens when Raven tells them about me, eh? Manhunt, anyone?" Glasses said, shaking his head and leaning back on his seat. "You're crazy, man. You had the opportunity to kill her and instead you healed her! I can't figure you out!"

"I've told you before. I'm Bound," Falchion said coldly, flicking his green eyes to Glasses. "And so are you, after a fashion. I understand those crystals I gave you are quite useful to you. Go back on our agreement, and they'll loose their power."

"Hey, man, don't be hasty now, I never said anything about _me_ letting her die!" Glasses said hurriedly, waving a hand in defense. "I'll protect her _and_ the Titans, if I get the chance! I've gotta get in good with them sometime, or else I might end up in jail someday!"

Falchion cracked a wry smile as the car pulled up a block from the tunnel entrance to Titans Tower.

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Raven trudged wearily towards her room. The Titans hadn't been joking when they said they wanted to know all about the last few weeks; it took two hours to satisfy them, and Raven was almost certain Starfire still had more questions. Girly questions.

Of course, they hadn't left her alone after that. Tests had to be run; they had to see just how healthy she was, how much she'd grown, and how much greater her powers were. That took another two hours, and after that they'd all discussed the issue of letting Falchion stay on permanently. His presence had been a necessity when Raven was injured, but they'd agreed he would doubtless be a valuable asset.

They'd decided to let Falchion decide.

Raven was so exhausted after the day's work that she actually walked past the door before she noticed it. It used to be a broom closet, and thus of virtually no importance to Raven.

It wasn't so any longer. Raven did a double take and stared at the door, not quite sure she wasn't just imagining it, or worse, missing the shop, of all things. But no, it was there when she reached out a hand and touched it. How, of course, she hadn't the faintest clue.

Falchion's famed backroom door, down to the exact runes, had replaced the broom closet.

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Author's note: That's it! It's finished! That's it for the introduction fanfic, at least. Keep an eye out for the next in the series, _Honor Born, Honor Bound_. It's got two fights that are on a whole other level! Meaning, of course, they last for more than a thousand words each. Don't miss it! It'll answer most of your questions and show you just what powers Falchion has and whose side he's really on!

Character talk

**Me: **It's over.

**Falchion: **Yeah...

**Vronse: **Hey, wait, it can't be over! You don't know who I am yet!

**Raven: **And I still don't know who Falchion is! Where's that blasted book on demonology?

**Beast Boy: **And I'm not getting to exploit my crush!

**Me: **Crush? You mean crushed when Raven says you're a loser, right?

**Falchion: **That's cold.

**Vronse: **Even for me.

**Me: **Oh come on! I've got somebody else for Raven, and besides...Beast Boy might have somebody heading his way.

**Beast Boy: **Terra!

**Me: **I'm not promising anything! Get out of my face!

**Vronse: **Well, since they're busy, I guess I'll give the preview!

**Falchion: **Next series, _Honor Born, Honor bound! _Guess who the star is? (shoves Vronse out of the way and poses)

**Vronse: **I don't believe it! I even get my part knocked down here!

**Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire: **No kidding.


End file.
